It feels great once you get a confirmation that your post will be published on a Pro Blog. Hours of hard work finally getting paid off. Isn’t it a feeling of accomplishment? But wait for your job is not done yet. There are things you must do even after your post has been published on a pro blog if you want to succeed in the blogosphere. I have listed down few things in this article. What you need to do can primarily be categorized into these 3 “what to do” sections listed below:
On blog Work
There are several daily weekly and monthly chores you do on your blog. But believe me, there’s more when you have much traffic to handle. Once your guest post is published, you will get overwhelmed by the amount of traffic you get on your blog, which, if not appropriately utilized, can mean no benefit from the guest post. Some of the things you must take care before your guest posts are published on other blogs are:
- RSS subscription Setup – One main reason why people do guest blogging is to increase their own blog’s subscriber count. So once you’ve bagged a guest post on a popular blog, make sure you have all the possible ways to let your visitors subscribe to the RSS setup on your blog. There are many ways people can subscribe to your RSS, but there is nothing like an email subscription. Work on that before you get your guest post published on another blog.
- Bring your best content forward – One other very good reason for guest blogging is making aware of your blog to new readers of the world. You may have been working on your blog for a long time and would have got some lovely posts so far. Make sure you highlight those posts to the new visitors. There are many ways to do that, but I would recommend two below:
- Have a popular posts widget setup on your blog. It shows all the popular posts within your blog.
- Most people like associate images with posts because pictures speak a thousand words. Set up a rotating banner for posts on your blog. It helps reduce the bounce rate on your blog. One excellent plugin to do that is the Sponsor Slide Show. I have used it, and it’s simply amazing.
- Showcase your other Blog Posts – You may have worked with other bloggers and might have published some posts there as well. It’s good to have your readers make aware of such work of yours. It increases your credibility in your blog community. People get to know about you more.
- Write about your guest post – You have a readership. People read your content, so ideally, they should read whatever you write and wherever you write. It’s advisable to write about your guest post on your blog. Make your readers read what you are writing. Create a backlink to the original post on your blog with some thoughts on the article you wrote on the other blog.
- Blogroll other Blogs – Make sure you have all your and your friends’ blogs linked in the Blogroll. Visitors coming to your blog would want to see what you link to. It also increases your chance to exchange links in your niche. Because they know you can be approached for that.
- Social You: In the last 1-2 years, social networking has become the talk of the town. Every 2nd person you meet is either talking about Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. And these websites drive traffic, heavy traffic. A survey conducted by Technorati confirms that twitter and Facebook are the most used social networking site to drive traffic. So you would want to make sure you don’t leave out in getting those new fans and followers — set up your blog with Twitter and Facebook fan page with their links on your blog.
- Update your Posts – There will be some articles on your blog which will be near to your heart. You’d remember them your entire life. Update them.
On Guest Blog Work
Getting a post published on a high ranking pro blog is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning. This is where you are supposed to work hard. I have specific points in my mind about that which I have listed down below.
- Comment on your post – This is the most important aspect of guest blogging. It is like the holy grail of your personality development in the blogosphere. So make sure you make every effort to reply to all the comments on your guest posts.
- Comment on other Authors’ Posts – Commenting on your posts is not the only thing you should be doing on your guest blog. It is advisable to interact with other authors on the blog you got your guest post published. It will build your relationship with other bloggers and increases your chance of getting more and more guest posts. People realize and appreciate your work and invite you to write on your blog. And the most important thing, when they see you commenting on their post, they come and comment on your guest post. It eventually increases the pageview of your guest post.
On the web Work
- Socialize – As per the State of the Blogosphere 2010, 50% of the top bloggers around the world use 3 sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to drive traffic to their blogs/sites. Posting is a guest post that should not be the end of it. People talk about your content on the internet if it’s perfect. So responding to them should be your primary goal to earn that credibility in the blogosphere.
- Forums Posts – A place where everyone can shout their minds out loud. No need to wait for anyone to approve my thoughts. If appropriately used forums drive an immense amount of traffic to your blog. Create a thread about your guest post and discuss it on a relevant forum that you visit regularly. Most forums have a general talk section where you can create thread if the topic of your article is not relevant to the niche of the forum.
- Monitor your Blog – Check the referral logs, bounce rate, overall visitors, page views/visit, and time spent on site. There is a saying in the corporate world. You need to measure things to control them. So start measuring them first to control the matrices on your blog.